Preparatory work for the compilation of the code

The compilation of the code started in 1986 and lasted until
1990. Initially work of the code was focused on safety aspects of logging under
consideration of international sources such as the ILO Code of Practice on Safe
Design and Use of Chain saws. Subsequently it was widened to include all aspects
of wood harvesting. Special attention was given to environmental requirements.

Work on the code was carried out by a national committee which
consisted of representatives of the Forestry Department, the logging industry,
the Fiji Forestry Training Centre and the ILO Logging Training Project. The
Committee went through seven drafts before concluding its work. It considered
relevant information from Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe and
matched it against the experience gained in Fiji on Wood harvesting and
management of indigenous and exotic forests. Suitable reference material from
other tropical countries was, at that time, hardly available.

The code was issued as an official document by the Ministry of
Forests in 1990. Its standards and prescriptions are binding. In 1991, an
expanded extract of the code a leaflet on use and maintenance of chainsaws was
printed for wider dissemination. A Fijian version of the code appeared in 1993,
including an English/Fijian logging terminology. All these publications are
pocket-size with an attractive graphic design and lay-out.

Figure 1. The illustration from
the front page of the section on Equipment and Safety. An attractive graphic
design and pocket size helped make the code popular among all those concerned
with
harvesting.